Dreams above the Sky (ELECTRIC BOOGALOO!)
by steam66
Summary: New technological advances in Equestria have split the country in pieces. Now, it's up to the new Pony States to get the first ponies on the moon, before their opponents. Rated T for later death. UPDATE: Rewrote the prologue, certainly better than the junky last one!


DREAMS ABOVE THE SKY

PROLOGUE REWRITE

all MLP characters are copyright Hasbro

written by steam66

_Jul. 16, year 1945_

The Equestrian Civil War was coming to a close. For 6 long years, the rebel forces of the Moon Army, under Princess Luna, had slowly and steadily built their way up from almost certain defeat in 1940, to a near victory. Now, they were at the gates of Canterlot, the capital of Princess Celestia's reign. Mounted artillery went off on both sides, blowing holes in the ranks of infantry and disabling armored vehicles. Celestia had heavily opposed technology at first, going for a magic-oriented military, but with the invention of Cavranium, a magic resistant alloy in 1943, Celestia was forced to employ heavy guns and vehicles. But by then, it was too late. The new Cavranium built warmachines advanced through Celestia's land, reclaiming the world in a bloody manner. Now, at the last bastion of Celestia's tyranny, there would be a massive battle for superiority, and blood would paint the streets.

The golden-uniformed Celestial Army fired, the magic-users and pegasi taking to the air. Magic blasts reaved the infantry of the Moon Army, but the tanks and artillery crews were safe behind layers and layers of Cavranium. The tank turrets slowly traversed to face the Celestial soldiers, and the anti-infantry .50 caliber weapons peppered the air with lead. The Moon Army's rifles made short work of the inferior firepower of the Celestial Army, but not without heavy casualties. The tanks moved to the front of the soldiers, their engines keeping up with the marching pace of the infantry.

Without warning, Celestial artillery, hidden in some block of Canterlot but guided presumably by hidden spotters, thundered down on the Moon Army. Several tanks were destroyed by the blasts, blocking the path of the infantry. They had to pass through a narrow space in between disabled tanks, one-by-one. The Celestial soldiers took the opportunity to attack, slaughtering the Moon Army as it rushed through the gap. The battalion retreated, but it was too late. The commander of the battalion, an orange pony, hid behind a disabled tank, leg sprained. "Shining Strike to command, Shining Strike to command, battalion 3 lost, battali-" The radio was drowned out by the sound of a Celestial tank's biogas powered engine. The engine sound drew closer, and a scream could be heard above it, cut off by a distinct _squelch_, and the sound of the tank reversing.

_2 km away, near Canterlot castle_

Princess Luna dropped the radio, gritting her teeth. She hadn't expected this much resistance from the Celestials. Battalion 3 was lost, and Battalion 2, advancing on the other side of the city, was suffering losses. Only her squad, Battalion 1, had not engaged enemies yet. Luna turned, matter-of-factly, to a subordinate pony nearby. "Advance the troops. We're finishing this-at the castle." Battalion 1 advanced, and made it to the castle grounds without spotting a single enemy. Suddenly, Princess Celestia herself was upon them. Vast blasts of magic seared through the ranks, destroying even the Cavranium tanks. The Celestial Army was present, but Celestia didn't discriminate in who she killed. Soon, only stragglers had escaped her fury, and could only stare as Celestia rushed for Luna, a massive blade at the ready. Luna drew her melee weapon, a small sword meant only for ceremonial purposes. She parried Celestia's 6-foot blade, sparks flying in all directions. Any normal swords would have been shattered, but these were magically enhanced, powered by the very magical essences in the two regal ponies.

The two regalities battled in mid-air, deliberately holding off their magic attacks. Suddenly, the sound of a self-propelled gun- an artillery on tank tracks- made itself apparent to Luna. She turned for only a second to face the vehicle, and made a wink to the injured operator of the tank. He understood what she meant. Luna turned to stop Celestia's blade, but her hoof slammed into Luna, sending the rebel princess spiralling to the ground. Celestia alighted, hoof on Luna's chest and blade at her neck. "Any last words, _sister?_" Celestia asked, taunting the princess. Luna's highly practiced etiquette broke. "EAT SHIT!" she screamed, shoving Celestia backwards. Celestia's wings caught a sudden gust, and she was swept upwards. The self propelled gun's cannon angled at the precise elevation of forty-two degrees, adjusted its range, and fired.

The shell-meant for disabling tanks- did more than enough damage on Celestia's body. The princess didn't spiral like Luna, just dropped like a rock. She hit the bank of the castle moat and slid inside. Luna knew she was dead before she went under. The Moon Army's commander-in-chief turned to the remaining soldiers- anyone, Celestial or otherwise. "The war is over. Your queen is dead. Please, don't make anyone of us suffer any longer." Luna pleaded to the Celestial soldiers. Not a single one didn't drop their weapons.

_Nov. 2, year 1948_

Princess Luna stalked down the prison cells, flanked by 2 guards, armed with submachine guns. Luna stopped at a particular cell, containing a gray pony. He looked up at the deep blue mare, unsure whether to hate her or admire her. "Von Brawn, I presume?" she asked. "Never lived up to the name, I mean look at these noodle legs!" Von Brawn dryly stated. "Enough wisecracking. You are-_were_-a scientist of the Celestial Empire?" she asked, eyes trained on Von Brawn. "Yes. And I presume it was why I was _acquired _by your men?" he inquired. "Rather us than the United Socialist State of Ponies." she answered curtly. "The what?" he asked, confused at the term. "After the civil war's resolution, the Equestrian Empire broke up into many nations spanning the globe. We occupy the Northern Accadia continent, and our new nation is the United Pony States, UPS for short. We have acquired much of the Empire's tech and equipment, but so has another state in the supercontinent of Quelita, the United Socialist State of Ponies, or just Pony Union. Both us and them have been scrambling to acquire scientists, and we're lucky to receive somepony of your prominence, Brawn." Luna explained.

"And what if I don't want to work for you?" he asked. "You rot in this cell." "Well then, I guess you can consider me hired." Von Brawn accepted. "We want to explore beyond the world-" Luna was cut off. "This is about my rocket program? Well, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

_May 2, year 1949_

_9:30 P.M._

The launch site, a converted missile silo that had been completed at the apex of the war and had never seen service, was swathed in lights from huge electric lamps trained on the launch pad. A rail line ran up to the pad, and a tall grey rocket was being inched horizontally down the line to the pad. This was the Bouncer MKII, made from a small Mare's Army Corps "Feather" rocket atop a tall liquid-fueled "Vengeance" missile, its warhead replaced by a mount for the MAC Feather. The Vengeance had been built for this silo but had never seen service along with it. Now it would serve the good of ponykind, rather than against it.

_10:45 P.M._

The launch preparations were complete. The Bouncer MKII was raised on the pad, held in place by the launch tower. Umbilicals connected to the rocket and tower had fueled the hungry Vengeance booster until it was filled to capacity, and now the first shaky step of the USP's space program would commence.

_11:00_

Von Brawn was personally overseeing this launch. He sat in the concrete bunker, radio headset over his ears. The machine to his side slowly ticked down to launch. Only 2 minutes to go.

_11:01:30_

Thirty seconds to launch. The tension of the bunker was coiled into Brawn's throat. This was the moment. This was what he spent over 20 years of painful work on. The flight director's voice boomed in his headset.

_12_

_11_

_10_

_9_

_8-systems are go_

_7_

_6_

_5- booster ignition start_

_4_

_3_

_2-ignition_

_1…_

_0- liftoff!_

The Bouncer II's clamps released, and the grey cylinder rose into the air, engine roaring like a thousand lions. The Bouncer quickly rose out of ground sight, but they could track it by its engine exhaust, clearly visible against the black night. 60 seconds into the launch, the Vengeance's engine sputtered and flamed out, exhausted of its fuel. The explosive bolts holding the MAC Feather and the Vengeance together fired, and the MAC Feather was freed. It fired, pushing the guidance and instrument unit mounted on top even higher. After several seconds, the MAC burned out, but it was too far up to be seen. Slowly, the spent stage and instruments drifted past 50 kilometers, entering the highest reaches of the atmosphere. As it followed a graceful parabola, the MAC slowly turned, facing the Earth. A single low-quality camera on board took the picture, and began transmission.

At the ground station, every eye was trained on a small television monitor. Suddenly, a line of pixels lit up a side of the screen, more lines steadily advancing across the black square. The ground control crew cheered as the black-and-white picture, staticky and low-resolution, showed a white-and-grey plane against a black background- the first image from space.

Meanwhile, the MAC Feather slowly stabilized in a nose-first position due to the atmosphere's increasing influence. The exterior, coated in protective ceramics, glowed dull orange as the air was shock-heated by the MAC's re-entry. As soon as the on-board accelerometer registered that it was below supersonic velocities, a small parachute burst from a compartment on the nose, arresting the Feather's fall. But a calculation had gone wrong. The spacecraft had flown farther east than intended- and was drifting down towards Pony Union land.

The MAC landed with a hard bump, digging a small hole in the ground. An officer of a nearby patrol group walked up to the vehicle. A quick mental examination, and he knew this was no missile. "So, the Pony States have started a space program… I must get the news to the Red Square at once."

_END OF PROLOGUE_

_**Author's note: Consider this Earth's geography to be the same as ours. Canterlot is in Europe (consider it Berlin) and the missile silo is nearby geographically. This is why it flew so far East. Also, I seem to have ignored the fact that the Earth rotates. Well, acceptable break in reality for the sake of the story, no?**_


End file.
